Gov’t Gives FREE Pneumococcal Vaccines For Babies Born in 2020 Onwards

Being a young parent is definitely a challenge. You will have to learn how to look for the tell-tale signs of flu or cough in your babies and you would need to bring them to their scheduled vaccinations as well. Some of the costs for these vaccinations run high but new parents can now take a sigh of relief as the government will be giving pneumococcal vaccinations for free.

In a post by the Ministry of Health, they have mentioned that the pneumococcal vaccines will be given in all of Ministry of Health’s Klinik Kesihatan starting from 1 December. The babies who are eligible are those born in January 2020 onwards.

This vaccine is in three doses in which the first two primer doses are given when a baby is four and six months old while the last dose is a booster dose that will be given at 15 months.

The ministry said that the aim of giving out this vaccine is to reduce the number of morbidity and mortality of children under five years old due to pneumococcal diseases. This will, in turn, reduce the risk of complications and also the cost of treatment.

The ministry does not deny that pneumococcal diseases can be treated with antibiotics, however, there exist a few strains which are immune to antibiotics. So, to stop the pneumococcal diseases, vaccination is the way to go.

So if you have a small baby, please call the Klinik Kesihatan nearest to you to make an appointment for the jabs! If you have any enquiries, you can call 03-8883 4003 or e-mail [email protected].

 

Also read: 30% Of M’sians Will Not Be Given Covid-19 Vaccine As Herd Immunity Will Protect Them, Says Deputy Minister